The French newspaper Libération said that a new study revealed that three quarters of the Syrian refugees want to return to their country; However, most of them consider that conditions for safe return are not available without reforming the security system and changing the political system.
In an article by Lea Massegen, the newspaper said that Syrian refugees, wherever they are, are impossible to return to their homes in Syria because they fear for their lives, whether they are in Germany where some conservative officials accuse them of being criminals, or in Turkey where they are used as a tool for extortion, or in Greece where the government is secretly established. And unlawfully expelling them to international waters, or even in Lebanon, where they are accused of threatening the balance of society.
The article referred to the report issued by the Syrian Association for the Dignity of Citizens on the minimum conditions for return to Syria for those who fled from it, and it relied on the testimonies of 1,100 people among refugees in the Middle East or Europe or internally displaced people who were forced to leave their homes between 2011 and 2019. .
While three quarters of the refugees say they wish to return to their homes eventually, the vast majority of them, regardless of their current geographic location and political affiliation; They believe that the conditions for a safe and sustainable return have not yet been met, according to Liberation.
Abed, 28, who is from Damascus, fled the war in 2013 after receiving a scholarship to study in the United States, and he has not seen his family who have remained in Syria since that time, says Abed, who is called by the newspaper, who is 28 years old. There is no democratic state. "
The newspaper pointed out that more than half of the study participants were living in regime-controlled areas when they left, compared to 19% under the control of the opposition factions, and 16% under the rule of ISIS, which lost its last territory in Syria in March 2019, and 90% left Including Syria for security reasons.
The study indicates that the areas that these individuals wish to return to are now under the control of the Syrian regime by 82% after 9 years of war.
The newspaper warned the host countries' concern about the potential impact of the prolonged presence of Syrians, as they are the largest number of forcibly displaced people in the world, and in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan, which together host more than 5 million Syrians in exile; The local authorities are working there to return refugees to their country, as they burden their economy.
Human rights violations
The participants in the study were asked to choose 5 basic requirements for their return, from 10 main areas, and it appeared that the first priority for nearly 75% of them relates to the procedures of the system’s security apparatus and the need to dismantle it. “I am especially afraid that I will be forcibly recruited from Before the army, or being kidnapped by the Shabiha, who would demand a ransom from my family if they find out that I am against the regime. "
According to Amnesty International, "Civilians returning to Syria are subject to a security check, which includes an interrogation by the Syrian security forces responsible for widespread and systematic human rights violations that constitute crimes against humanity."
In a report by the Syrian Association for the Dignity of Citizens in 2019 on the conditions for resettling 300 people who returned to Syria, the report said that two-thirds of them were either subjected to extortion by the authorities or a member of their family was threatened with arrest.
As for the second condition for return, according to 67% of the participants, it is political, as they considered the departure of the Syrian regime and its main symbols one of their priorities. The study indicated that "the four main priority areas are directly related to the work of the Syrian regime and its repressive political system and the oppressive use of security services."
The French newspaper referred to what Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said at a donor conference organized by the European Union and the United Nations at the end of last June, "We do not see a political solution to the conflict" in Syria, especially since President Bashar al-Assad is still clinging to power. Although 380 thousand people were killed because of the war.
Voluntary return
The participants in that study referred to the security situation on the ground, and they demand an end to the fighting and an end to the bombings and assassinations, especially as fighting is still raging in the country, where clashes between Assad's forces and ISIS forces left about 50 people dead in early July. Grandi warned that "the return of refugees should be voluntary."
Nevertheless, many NGOs - as the newspaper says - question the voluntary nature of the return, and condemn the measures aimed at tightening the screws on these exiles, as the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch condemned in July 2019 the "illegal pressure" exercised by the authorities Lebanese, and Turkey's expulsion of the Syrians.
According to Amnesty International, “many refugees wishing to leave Lebanon are unable to make a free and informed decision” due to the “unfortunate conditions” in which they live and the lack of “objective information on the human rights situation” in their country of origin.
Several thousand of them left, returning to Syria despite the dangers, as part of operations supervised by the Lebanese General Security in coordination with the Bashar al-Assad regime, which does not seem to be in a hurry to return the exiles.
The French newspaper concludes that the idea of return among refugees in Western countries seems more remote, as 97% of Syrian refugees in Europe consider themselves "well settled", compared to 9% in Lebanon despite the various problems they face, according to the Syrian Association for the Dignity of Citizens.